Avoidance 101
by Lucky Meryl
Summary: She'd never intended to follow him to college. In fact, she intentionally chose a college hours away from him. So how was it that there he was in the common area of her coed dorm, looking over his cellphone with a goofy smile and opened book in his lap. Title subject to change, ideas wanted. Please read and review, constructive thoughts encouraged!
1. How?

She never intended to follow him to college. In fact, the plan was to start over while she was there, without him. Her childhood crush hadn't eased up and ever since she told him how she felt, Helga found her feelings for Arnold to be nothing more than a burden. She'd tried everything to get rid of them. She'd had a few boyfriends –even convinced herself she liked them for a little while—and even took one of them on a double date with Arnold while he was dating Lila their sophomore year hoping that seeing him with that goody-goody and the fact that she had her own boyfriend would give her brain some sort of reality check and allow her to somehow forget her feelings.

Despite all of this however, that crush remained like a ghost haunting her from her childhood. Her final tactic was to lose him from her life all together in the form of the University system.

She listened to him talking to Gerald about schools during the last semester of their senior year. He had plans to go to a university just a half hour from home, so that he could continue living with his grandparents. The old coots were as agile as ever but he still felt better staying with them in case his grandpa's back went out again or his grandmother went on another jungle expedition through the city.

Arnold's college plans worked out well for Helga. Big Bob had been pushing for Helga to attend his alma mater ever since her summer job with him at the beeper-turned-cellphone shop, so getting him to help pay for tuition in order to go to college a good 4 hours away from home not only allowed her to move out and away from her family, but it was far, far away from that football headed blonde that she couldn't get her mind off of otherwise.

So how is it there he was in the common room of her co-ed dorm? Why was it his dumb head bent over his cellphone with a goofy smile on his face and an open text book in his lap? How had she still not gotten away from him?

Ruth. That's why he was there. During the summer he'd reunited with her while she was home visiting family. Sometime while Helga was busy packing her life away, ignoring her sister's wonderful college advice and her mother's drunken depression after realizing she'd soon be adding "empty nest syndrome" to her list of disorders, Arnold was bumping into Ruth on a trip to the mall. They caught up and chatted and started dating over the course of a couple of months between high school and college and he decided to start going to her school so that they could spend more time together.

Helga chose a coed dorm because she despised girls. The only one she ever appreciated having around was Phoebe, who had went on to college a year early and was currently attending some fancy university on a full scholarship and living with Gerald now that he'd graduated. Helga decided even though there were still girls in a coed dorm, at least there would be less of them. However had she known she'd be stuck under the same roof as Arnold, she might have chosen to deal with the nagging and the makeovers and the menstrual irritability.

When she first saw him, her initial reaction was that uncontrollable jump in her chest. The one she once lost herself in while hiding behind lockers or in closets and alleys. However the immediate afterthought was that of pure anger. How dare he? How could he? Following her like a curse she'd never deserved into _her_ university. _Her _new life. And when that thought passed through her, she dropped a pink sock in his white laundry.

* * *

Arnold wished he were rooming anywhere but under the same roof as Helga G. Pataki. Literally. Anywhere. He attempted camping on the campus green until campus security made him leave. He didn't feel like the streets were safe enough—though Helga wasn't much less dangerous—and Ruth had already paid her tuition and her roommate was completely against him even spending the night, let alone living there. He'd asked Ruth about getting an apartment over winter break, but she was convinced he was moving too fast.

In the end he decided it wasn't impossible to avoid Helga in the dorms. There was a lock on the door, and besides, his new roommate, a fine arts major named Duke from Kentucky, wasn't that bad. Not to mention, outside those walls, just across the campus green in the girls dorm was Ruth. And she made the torture endured during the time he spent in the common area of the dorms a little more bearable.

It wasn't that Helga was as mean as she ever was to him. In fact, she'd changed a lot since elementary school, and her bullying became a lot less physical. She decided to rely more on pranks and insults and a few obscene hand gestures his way. Nevertheless, it definitely put pressure on his attempt at being civil with her.

Luckily there were no more "heat of the moment" confessions to make things more awkward between them than they originally were. When Helga first confessed her feelings—and admitting to most likely a certifiable amount of obsession—Arnold didn't know how to handle the situation. They had both agreed without agreeing to pretend it never even happened and that it was nothing to begin with, but they both knew. They'd always know. Luckily since fourth grade it seemed to him as she had finally moved on. He assumed her harassment was just a longtime habit and he'd have to deal with it.

Other than the harassment, however, Helga had physically changed a lot. Helga had grown to be a bit more well endowed, unlike her older sister who stayed a dainty thin form. Not only had she been able to fill out all of the Nancy Spumoni clothing she'd saved up her summer earnings on, but she began to possess more dominant features than her mother and sister, most likely coming from her father's side of the family. She'd grown into long legs and a large bust and shapely hips typically shown against her clingy Nancy Spumoni jeans and and pink shirt.

She'd left her pigtails long in the past but her pink bow was a dominant feature of her style whether it be in the form of a decoration on her pink flats, as a charm on a necklace or sometimes held the sides of her hair back out of her face. Thanks to her days of attempting to move on, she'd learned her way around the beauty section of the drug store and kept her eyebrows waxed and wore just enough makeup that she didn't feel like she were wearing a second skin.

Arnold hit his growth spurt during freshman year, out growing many of his classmates except for Gerald and Stinky. He was tall and lanky and his sense of style hadn't changed much, a pair of blue jeans and some sort of sweater or button up—sometimes both—pretty much summed up his every day since of style. His pants typically had one or two holes in them—he never threw them away unless they were completely unwearable—but he pulled it off like one of the high end distressed jeans someone would get from a department store. He never spent money on new shoes, instead he wore the same pair every day, a beat up pair of sneakers he'd had since junior year. Like most guys he never really changed his hair style. It didn't keep it's youthful form of spiked on top of his head and began to lay back instead, but he never put too much effort into how it turned out when he left his dorm and many times people would claim he was intentionally going for a bedhead look, but the true story is that he would only run a brush through it once a day and nothing more. He was just one of those guys that seemed to make a style out of not caring about his style.

* * *

Helga tried avoiding him as much as possible, and luckily the feeling was mutual yet unspoken. If they did pass each other in the halls of the science building or the caf, he would politely wave and she would greet him with a smirk, eye roll, or middle finger, depending on her particular mood. The second semester however, they somehow became lab partners, and vocal interaction became completely unavoidable.

"We never have good luck as lab partners. Did the professor just think it was funny pairing up the two from the same school?" Though both annoyed at the union, Helga was the first to voice her irritation. She worked while toying with the tongs, picking up pencils and balls of paper and dropping them while leaning her face against her hand with a total lack amusement.

"We'll just have to make the best of the situation." Arnold starting pulling together all of the items for the particular experiment and getting them situated. He noticed Helga's eye roll as she shook her head and put the tongs down. She muttered something about his "damn catchphrase" under her breath. "Look at least we know each other. And we know how the other works. So how about we just try to get through this semester without killing each other?"

She scoffed a bit under her breath but shook his offered hand in agreement. She couldn't look at him when she did, though. Shaking his hand was hard enough without eye contact. The experiment began, they both pulled on their goggles, Arnold poured some sort of chemical into the beaker while Helga heated another chemical under a flame. Every once in a while he'd bump her or she'd bump him, and they'd both pretend not to notice but silently agreed, this was going to be a long semester.

* * *

The first month or remained voicelessly awkward as the two were forced to continue working together as lab partners. They attempted trading, asked the professor if they could work separately, but nothing ever came of it. The two were stuck together. After their attempts at changing partners and leaving class failed, however, things weren't as bad as they had anticipated.

By mid March—over two months into the semester—they had progressed to small talk, mostly consisting of "that smell in the dorms the other day" or "the streaking guy on the campus green." Every once in a while, however, they would stumble upon an actual conversation.

"Ruth. Isn't she that sixth grader you had a crush on back in the day?" She remembered the scenario well. Especially since Arnold was two-timing her—well Cecille, but her as Cecille—in order to go on a valentine's date with Ruth on the same night. "I thought you got over her because she was a snob."

Arnold shrugged, looking down at the lab sheets, but Helga could swear she saw the slightest blush on his cheeks. "Well she's different now. She grew up. I mean we all grew up. She's a lot cooler now."

Helga held an insult and a scoff in the back of her throat. Insulting the girlfriend does not a good lab partner make. She knew it was probably a bias talking, but she felt that he could do better. Ruth had treated him like a bus boy. Not to mention Helga's irritation at her ignorance when Arnold told his friends she thought that "anonymous" was a real physical person. "Whatever. Just don't come crying to me when she dumps you for a maitre d' this time."

Arnold rolled his eyes and filled out their lab paperwork. "That's not going to happen. I told you, she's different." Before she could comment again, Arnold interrupted. "Will you hand me the sample?"

She clamped her mouth shut before the remark could leave her lips and passed him the lab sample. She knew Ruth was no good for him, but what was her reasoning in telling him that? She had never directly met the girl. Besides that, he was happy, and even though the elementary school Helga would have been driven crazy as the idea of him being happy with someone besides her, the college Helga knew a happy Arnold was a good thing, not matter the reason. So why ruin it with insults? It didn't matter that the girl was a snobby rotten no-good…

"Helga?" Arnold was looking at her with concern and motioned down to her desk. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" She blinked over at him and looked down at the pencil snapped in her hand. "Oh sorry. Old habits die hard, eh?" She laughed a bit and threw the two ends of the pencil in the trash as she excused herself to the restroom.

"Pull yourself together Helga." She told herself, pacing back and forth in front of the bathroom sinks. _You've spent two months sitting with this guy and it is going well. You're almost there. You're moving on. You can do this. _She leaned on a sink and stared at herself in the mirror. She'd long since stopped arguing with herself out loud—Brainy made sure to finally break her of that habit—but she couldn't help her thoughts from crashing around in her mind like an interstate pileup when she became frustrated. And nothing frustrated her more than that guy.

_Arnold._ She thought. _What a loser. What a stinking pile of garbage. Who does he think he is coming in and ruining my life before I even got it fixed? Being so nice to me and making it even harder to just be a friend. _She sighed, washing her hands in the icy cold water just to jar her from her thoughts. She couldn't stay in the bathroom forever. Lab still lasted another 45 minutes.

He didn't know what he'd done to set her off. She didn't even seem like she was angry before that moment. It was obvious that when left to her own thoughts Helga could put herself in a bad mood, however Arnold couldn't help but feel like he'd done or said something wrong. He cleaned up the experiment, eyeing the door for her return. As she fell back into the seat beside him, releasing a deep breath, he slid her his observation notes. "You want to type them up?"

She shrugged, unable to look him in the eye. She'd had enough of being a good lab partner for the day. She took the paper blindly, luckily avoiding his hand by a couple centimeters as she slid it into her binder before the group lecture began. She heard the light sound of a phone vibrating beside her and couldn't help but glance over to the mild disruption. She knew who it was by the smile on his face as he slid his cell under the desk slyly.

"Criminy…" she muttered, rolling her eyes and leaning forward, leaning her chin in her hands. She couldn't wait to get back to her dorm.

The professor kept the class an extra ten minutes while he finished his lecture—an act that should be against every school policy. Arnold and Helga were both anxiously tapping their feet against the floor, as if a race were to start between them as soon as the teacher dismissed them. Arnold would have won. He'd already muttered a "Later, Helga," and had his backpack slung over one shoulder before she even stood up. By the time she'd closed her satchel, he was gone.

Arnold shoved his phone in his pocket after sending a quick message to his girlfriend informing her he was on his way to meet her at the coffee shop on campus. He ran to the University bus that was parked at the end of the street and checked his phone again. She said she had news. He didn't know what it was, but any news from Ruth was good news.

She waved at him from the table outside. Her hair was a little longer than when she was in sixth grade, reaching her shoulders. She'd kept her thin form and big smile he'd always liked even when he didn't like her attitude. "You got here quick."

He laughed and smiled, shrugging as he set his bag down beside him. "Got lucky catching the bus." He looked at the table. "Did you order my coffee?"

"Oh," she glanced down at the table as if surprised it wasn't sitting there. "I couldn't remember what you liked in it so I figured I'd let you order it." She seemed to forget about the text with his coffee order in it. Two creams three sugars.

"Oh well. What's the good news?"

Her smile lit up, just like always. "You're never going to guess. Go ahead guess." He opened his mouth but she continued before he could respond. "I got approved for the study abroad program!"

The initial reaction was that he was genuinely happy for her. She'd been hoping to visit Europe during the summer but she was worried her financial aid wouldn't cover it. However that meant for the entire summer she'd be in another country. She would barely even be able to call since long distance was so expensive and he knew her calls would be more importantly to her family than to him. Nevertheless, he plastered a smile on his face and congratulated her. "That's great Ruth. You'll have to take plenty of photos while you're there."

"I will!" She reached in her purse—which was too big to be carrying around as it could have been used for a book bag—and pulled out the brochure for her trip. "I'll go to Spain and the U.K. and England and France and Scotland and Ireland."

Arnold wanted to remind her that England, Scotland and Northern Ireland were part of the United Kingdom, but instead he just smiled. "That's awesome. I'm really happy for you." But inside he was miserable.

Helga fell on her bed with a sigh, letting her books fall with a loud thump against the floor. She had another class in a couple of hours, but after all the emotional stress of chemistry, she was tempted to skip it. It was an easy class anyways and she was maintaining a solid A in it without even giving it her usual half effort. Her roommate was still in class, and would be for another two hours. It was ideal time for a nap or a music blaring diary session.

Her sister had given her a leather bound journal for her birthday; surprisingly one of the best gifts her Olga had ever given her. Her old diary had been filled up a few days before and so it was perfect timing. Since then she'd been using that one every night, religiously. Whether it be a four page story about the kid that followed her around campus because he didn't know English and couldn't find the counselor's office, or a short paragraph because she'd went to her classes and came back to her dorm without any major event, there was an entry for each and every day of her life.

Helga pulled her laptop out of her backpack and plugged it into the stereo system on her bed. Before long her music was as loud as she could make it without getting a visit from the resident advisor and she was wrapped up on her bed with her journal and pink feather pen.

_Diary,_

_Why is chemistry so hard?_

_Helga._

That was all she could put on paper. She was stumped for words for the first time in her life. She stared, blinking at the almost blank page in her journal, but before her mind could wander further, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

She was barely able to answer it at the last ring. "What is it Miriam? Did you lose your keys again?"

"Helga?" It was Phoebe. "It's me, Phoebe."

Helga smiled and sat up, leaning her head back against the wall and stretching out her legs. "Oh hey Phoebe, what's up?" It'd been a long time since she'd heard that mousy little voice. They'd been texting frequently as usual,however, meaning each girl was completely up to date with everything going on in the other's life. Despite the fact that Phoebe was dating Arnold's best friend, Helga knew she could still trust her with all of her secrets, just like she'd always done.

"Gerald and I have spring vacation coming up next week at our respective schools and I was wondering if I could come visit you. Gerald was hoping to catch up with Arnold and I know you've needed a verbal outlet for your frustration for a while. Perhaps we could go out to dinner just us while the boys conversed."

Helga let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Phoebs, you're a genius."

* * *

**A/N: **So this is my first attempt at a Hey Arnold fanfiction. I have never written a Hey Arnold fic before, nor have I read one. But I have read some of the fancomics and they are magnificent. I have a pretty solid idea of where this is going written out in my pocket notebook but I'll be happy to take any ideas into consideration especially for the name which I completely drew a blank on.

Also I'll be writing on my off days mostly so I might only update on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Also I'm trying to stay in character as much as possible. Luckily I grew up with these characters so that definitely helps. And also yes, Helga is still in love with Arnold, but now she hates being in love with him because it's pointless. If there are any character changes as far as how they are acting, remember that they are in the 18-19 year old range now, they aren't children. I had to mature them a little bit...except Arnold. He's always been a 40 year old man...

Anyways please review! Positive or negative tell me how to make it better!


	2. Who?

**A/N: **I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed as a guest or as a member of , all reviews, whether criticism or praise, are appreciated. I love tips on how to make a story better, I love advice on what I'm doing right. After the next chapter I may have an idea on what to title this bad boy. If you're new to the story please send me a review, I try to respond to all those that I can, and followers I love you guys too. Like I said, this is my first Hey Arnold fic ever. It's also the first thing I've written in over 2 years, and the first fanfiction I've written in a while too, besides I think a Mortal Instruments fic. So all feedback is important to me. :D Thanks again for reading, now sit back and enjoy the show!

* * *

Arnold had never been so glad to see his best friend at his door that Sunday morning. They greeted each other with the same handshake they'd used since they were children as he invited Gerald into his small dorm room.

Gerald was still taller than him, however not by his hair which now hung in dreads just past his shoulders in a low ponytail, also, by the looks of things, Phoebe had finally come around to the idea of a boyfriend with a goatee which was freshly trimmed on his chin. He'd started working as soon as he'd turned sixteen and was able to keep up the fashionable style he'd always envied. That day he was wearing dark jeans, a v-neck shirt, and a black blazer jacket and either his shoes were brand new or freshly polished—either one was an equal possibility.

Arnold introduced him to Duke, who towered over both of them, while he looked up the number for the local pizza place on his phone. Duke seemed like he should have been too old to be a freshman in college, but he insisted to Gerald that he'd only turned 19 in January. The three of them made small talk before the food arrived. Arnold knew his friend would need to be fully satisfied with junk food before he could process everything he had to talk about.

"Wait you're lab partners?" Gerald laughed; a deep laugh which took years to fully grow into. "Did you tell your professor how you two do _not_ work well as a team?" He waved his pizza slice as he spoke. "Seriously. You two are a match not made in heaven, I can promise you that."

Arnold rolled his eyes. "I know that. Helga knows that. We both explained it to the professor."

"Did you tell them about the egg in fourth grade?"

The blonde nodded, pulling another bottle of water from the mini-fridge. "And about the greenhouse experiments and the camping trip and every other project we've worked on sense."

* * *

"And that old coot just acts like were exaggerating!" Helga was pacing; throwing her hands in the air as she told the same story to Phoebe after politely ordering her roommate, Sandra, a girl Helga never even bothered to get to know beyond her name, to leave the room.

Phoebe sat on her knees on Helga's bed, nodding and following Helga's movements. "I assume the atmosphere is as tense as predicted?" If Phoebe's voice had changed over the years Helga hadn't noticed. Everyone noticed the physical changes she'd made though, starting with her long legs and dark hair that fell down her back. For a short time in middle school Phoebe had given contacts a try. Not only did everyone agree that she looked more like herself in glasses, but she felt it took too much time in the mornings to put them on. She also hated poking herself in the eyes every day and night.

In high school she experimented with different frames to spice up her look. By junior year she'd finally stuck to a pair of thick rimmed blue rectangle frames. Though no one was sure if she'd actually decided on that style or if she was too busy fast tracking through junior and senior year at the same time to make an appointment to get new glasses.

Helga sighed and fell into her pink bean bag. "No. And I think that makes it even worse." She sighed as phoebe gave her a confused look. "He's too damn nice. He always has been. How can I get over someone who is always there? Always known what to say and always cared no matter how awful I'd been to him."

"Helga other boys have been kind to you."

Before she continue Helga shook her head. "Not like him. Not unconditionally. They were nice to me because they were afraid of me, or dating me, or related to me." She rolled her head back and stared at the ceiling. "Even my family makes sure I know it's a huge obligation."

Phoebe set her drink down and took a deep breath. They'd had this conversation before. "Helga. Unconditional kindness does not equal—"

"Unconditional love. I know. Don't you think I know that Phoebe? Sheesh you've only told me that more times than I can count." So had her therapist. "But is it so bad that I love that quality? I want someone who will give me family advice when I'm feeling down and cheer me up when I'm sad or hold a damn umbrella for me when I'm soaking wet. I know I don't deserve it. Least of all from him. But he's the one who is always there. And I hate him for it."

* * *

"How can you continue to be nice to her after all she's done to you, man?" Gerald took the last Yahoo soda out of the fridge and sat at his can hissed open.

"She's not that bad and besides, we're adults, Gerald."

"Look man, when we were kids and I told you she was out of your league, I meant because she was in the sixth grade and we were in the fourth. Now? I mean because you've moved on into the majors and she's stuck at tee ball practice."

"You barely even know Ruth. You only know her from the Christmas party at Rhonda's and because she added you to her friend list online."

"Yeah and Arnold, my man, I know her enough to know she won't just be leaving the country this summer."

Arnold scowled at him. "It's one summer. You and Phoebe survived your whole senior year while she went ahead to university."

Gerald shook his friend's shoulder. "Yeah and it was hard work, man." He took a sip of his soda and leaned his arm on the footboard of Arnold's bed. "Phoebe and I had known each other since we were kids. We were as rock solid as any high school couple could possibly be. We web chatted almost every night, visited on breaks, texted between classes and _still _we almost didn't make it. We barely made it. Do you honestly think you two will be able to make it work?"

Arnold looked down at his water. "You think I should just dump her because she's going abroad this summer?"

Gerald shook his head. "Nah man I don't mean you should break up with her. I just mean you shouldn't have high expectations for when she comes back. Don't dive in too deep. Find something to distract you this summer away from her. If you two can survive that, you'll survive anything." He smiled, nudging his friend lightly with his elbow. "Prove me wrong, man. You're good at that."

* * *

Helga laughed at herself. "I know I'm ridiculous and selfish and awful. I'm really good at being those things, Phoebs."

The small girl shook her head anxiously. "No I never said those things. You aren't any of those things, Helga."

"Phoebe I basically just told you I want a man who will let me walk all over him and still greet me with a smile."

"But is that what you want?" Phoebe set her feet on the floor and put her paper cup in the trash, walking over to sit against the beanbag next to her friend. "Do you want a man who will let you walk all over him and greet you politely?"

"Hell no." The blonde crossed her arms and turned her nose up at the thought. "I just want to know that there's someone out there that can see me at my worst and still treat me like a human being. Not some uncontrollable beast."

Phoebe nodded and patted her friend's arm. "I'm positive that he's out there, Helga. And you'll run into him when you least expect it." She smiled and stood up, holding out her hand. "Now get to bed. You previously stated you have classes on Monday mornings, right?"

Helga knocked the girl's hand away gently. "I'll just skip 'em. It's not lab and you're here to visit, I don't want to waste time in a stupid class." She laughed and relaxed in the oversized bean bag.

Her friend placed her small hands carefully on her waist and frowned. "Helga Pataki you will not skip class. Education is important and you are not going to be absent on account of my visit."

Helga laughed. Gerald was waiting at the entrance when she walked her friend down to the front door of the building to drive them to their hotel. Arnold was yawning, waving to his friend as he left. He looked over at Helga and gave her a small wave. "Night."

She smirked at him and ruffled his hair. "Your pants are unzipped, football head." With that, she disappeared up the stairs towards her dorm while he was left looking down at his pajama bottoms, which, of course, had no zipper.

* * *

Helga rolled out of bed the next day while her alarm went off the third or fourth time. She pulled on her jeans and sneakers, not bothering to motivate herself to put on makeup or find something nicer. Instead she threw on a shirt that was clean while pulling her hair into a quick ponytail. She packed her notebooks in her bag as she walked across the green, not exactly late for class, but hurrying nonetheless and paying more attention to situating her bag than walking. She hadn't noticed the wall until she ran into it—or, rather, him.

The wall was a tall brawny man with brown-red hair and dark green eyes, wide with concern as he held out a hand toward her. "Sorry 'bout that. You okay?"

The blonde slapped his large hand away and huffed as she stood up silently and brushed off her jeans. "Yeah. Thanks," she muttered, picking up her scattered notebooks.

"Are you an English major?"

Helga rolled her eyes. "Business. Why is it any of your—Hey what do you think you're doing, ya creep?"

His face was bent over her poetry book with a smile on his face. He turned and twisted away from her frantically grabbing hands. "Your stuff is real good. Better than the stuff I read in class."

"Thanks Goliath, now give it back before you get hurt." She planted her hands on her hips and glared at the man. It'd been a while since she'd been in a fight—and with a guy no less-but stealing her poetry book was a crime punishable by death in the law books of Helga G. Pataki.

He set the book down on her head, smiling at her as she growled at him. "Name's not Goliath, ma'am."

She snatched the book and shoved it into her bag. "Like I care."

He chuckled as she stomped away, calling after her. "The name's Duke!"

"And I still don't care!" She kept walking, leaving him wither her middle finger in the air as she went.

* * *

Arnold couldn't help but laugh at his roommate's goofy grin as he walked in their dorm. He'd found the boy taking up the little bit of floor space they had with the entirety of his large body. "Are you okay, Duke?"

The other boy gave his friend a thumbs up. "I met the weirdest girl."

Arnold smiled and sat down on the end of his bed. Of course it was a girl to induce that kind of brainless stupor on a man.

"_They call it falling."_ He began to quote, _"Because it's fast and dangerous; painful, and terrifying; like a car crash."_

The blonde boy chuckled. "Learn that one in class?"

"Naw. That's her. She wrote that one. The girl with the blonde hair and the mean look." If possible, Arnold could swear the boys smile grew with the thought. "Ah man if looks could kill."

_Wait. Blonde hair? Mean looks and poetry?_ Arnold shook his head. There was no way Duke could possibly have been talking about—

"Her poems were signed Helga G. Pataki."

* * *

Helga loved hitting the gym at the end of a long day. And after the creep that stole her poetry book and stuck his nose in it, being late to class, and finding a pop quiz waiting on her in history, the day had been extra long.

He braced herself as she took her stress out on the punching bag in front of her. She only had an hour before she was going out to dinner with Phoebe, which meant she only had half an hour to beat her stress out before she'd have to wash the rest away under a hot shower. After a few more punches and kicks to the innocent bag hanging from the ceiling, she checked her phone for the time. She flipped to a message from her dinner date as she headed to the locker room.

_Gerald will be joining us. I hope you don't mind the unexpected company._

Helga tried to think of a response, but instead threw her phone into the bag in her locker and stepped into the showers. Gerald coming meant that Arnold was coming. Which meant he'd have to be a _good boyfriend_ and invite Ruth. She was quickly wondering if she should save her sanity and skip the fifth wheel experience.

She glared in the stall mirror at herself. Since when was she afraid of social situations? In fact, when was Helga G. Pataki afraid of anything? She scrubbed the shampoo out of her hair, deciding to herself: she was going, but she wasn't putting any effort into the gathering. She left the gym in her tee and jeans from that morning, hair still wet against her shoulders from the shower, and make up all washed away. Fantastic.

* * *

Arnold knocked on Ruth's door after classes. He couldn't help habitually fixing his hair a little with his hand as he waited for her to come to the door. The thin door flew open as Ruth stopped laughing at whatever conversation was going on inside. "Hello boyfriend!" She smiled, leaning on the doorframe. "To what do I owe the visit?"

Arnold smiled a little, still inexplicably shy around her even after dating for almost a year. "I-ah..I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner."

"That's really sweet of you. Do you wanna pick something up? We can eat here." Arnold then recognized the scent coming from her. It was the same smell as Helga's mom or Ernie after poker night.

"Ruth are you drunk?" He found himself peering into the room for evidence. He'd been to parties in high school, and a few so far in college where there was alcohol involved. He even knew that Ruth drank at some of those parties and it never bothered him. Drinking on a Monday afternoon, however, struck him as a little worrisome.

She shook her head a little too quickly. "No…well…maybe a little tipsy maybe. Wanna drink?"

"Ah—"

"Oh wait you're going to get dinner. You can have a drink when you get back." She smiled thoughtfully with her own offer.

Arnold shook his head. "I'm not going to pick up dinner."

Ruth frowned, poking her lips out in a drunken pout. "But you said…"

"I was asking you out. You know, on a date? With my friends?" He was staring her down, half out of disappointment and the other half out of annoyance. "I guess not this time."

"Oh…" she frowned suddenly and rubbed her arms as if she were cold. "Yeah I'm sorry, Arnold. I don't really feel like going out." She smiled at him, however, as if trying to console him. "But bring me something back. You can come over after dinner, okay?"

He turned and waved at her as he started to leave. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Ruth. I have an early class."

She waved back eagerly from her doorway. "Still bring me something back?"

Arnold kept walking, the request falling on deaf ears as he did.

"Hey man, I thought you were bringing your girl." Gerald greeted him at the door to lead the way to the table he and Phoebe had reserved at the Chinese restaurant near the camps. He laughed as Arnold walked up. "Not your guy."

Arnold rolled his eyes. "Ruth is sick. Duke came to fill a seat."

His friend only chuckled and led the two to the table. The perfect end of his day was the girl sitting at the table with wet hair and a frown.

Helga glared at the tall brute walking towards her table. "What is that creep doing here?"

"I came for more poetry." Duke flashed her a bright smile and sat beside her. He laughed as she scooted away from him, bumping into another chair as she did. She turned to the chair and glared at the football headed boy that had occupied it. She was stuck between the last two people in the world that she could possibly have wanted to see that day.

"Where is your date, Arnold?" Phoebe inquired carefully, browsing through the menu.

Before he could answer her, Helga butted in. "She caught up with the host up front?"

Arnold shot her a look that almost made her regret picking on him. Almost. "She's under the weather. " He corrected.

Helga couldn't help the statement that escaped under her breath. "You mean under the waiter."

"Helga!" Phoebe scolded as Duke laughed and Arnold glared at both of them. Gerald politely looked away, avoiding his friend's eyes as he bit his cheek.

Duke held his hands up in surrender at his roommate, still chuckling as he did. "I'm sorry man, but it was funny."

Helga smiled. The poetry thief was still a creep, but at least he had a sense of humor. Maybe the day wouldn't end so badly after all. At least she wasn't the extra among two couples as she had expected. It was also a plus that Arnold has become the butt of the joke.

Arnold grumbled under his breath and took a drink of his water. Suddenly halfway through dinner it was he who felt out of place, as though he'd imposed upon a double date. His roommate and lab partner were hitting it off perfectly. She'd say something mean and he'd laugh. He'd flash a smile and she'd roll her eyes, but was still laughing with him.

Not to mention how well she was getting along with both Phoebe and Gerald. It was like he'd entered some foreign world where everyone liked Helga and he was some sort of social outcast. He tried to join in the conversation but for some reason he just wasn't in the mood for small talk.

Helga was glad she'd forced herself out. Goliath—the nickname that still stuck in her head—wasn't as bad as she'd thought. She still resented him for prying into her poetry without her permission, but at least he seemed like an okay guy in her book. He'd had the same twisted humor she had, but had the nice guy smile that everyone liked.

Arnold stood before dessert was ordered. "I'm going to head back early." Before Gerald could stop him, he was handing the waiter the money for his food. "I need to call and check on Grandpa and Grandma. And I have an early class tomorrow." It was all true, but also an excuse to leave. He knew that the next day was going to be a tough one, and he wanted to be as well rested as he could to prepare for it.

Helga watched him leave, unsure if she'd actually struck a nerve with him. She supposed she'd have to apologize the next day somehow, but when Duke stole a bite of her ice cream from her bowl, a small fight broke out between them, distracting her from her thoughts.

* * *

Duke left that night holding his left arm, certain it would bruise by morning, but laughing as he walked Helga inside the dormitory building. He left her at the stairs separating their two floors. She fell on her bed and laughed to herself as she thought back on the day's events. For the first time in a while, she fell asleep smiling.

Arnold laid awake in bed, pretending otherwise as Duke came in. He heard him as the large body made itself comfortable in the squeaky spring mattress, assuming he'd not been found out. He listened carefully to his roommate as his breathing slowed and he began to snore lightly. He envied how quickly the guy could fall asleep after lying down. _Close your eyes Arnold._ He told himself. _There's a lot to do tomorrow. Have to make sure Helga typed up our chemistry assignment and put your name on it. Have to talk to Ruth…_

He heard Duke as he laughed in his sleep and mumble as he'd been known to do in the time they'd been living together. _Have to talk to her about our relationship._ Duke mumbled again and Arnold felt as though he could feel the boy smiling as he deciphered what his roommate was saying. "What a weird girl."

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks again for all of the feedback. So I was a day late and dollar short on this installment, my apologies. I had a weird day yesterday that included staying up all night? Whatevs so here is the newest chapter, getting more into a timeline now and by request I put in breaks between POVs. As always I appreciate all critique and commentary and I try to reply to every one that I get (that isn't a guest acct because I'm not able to do that unless you give me an email) so I hope to get more ideas and advice along the way. Thanks!

Btw side note. I am still considering changing the title. How about "They Call It Falling" or "Like a Car Crash"?


	3. Where?

**A/N: **So this is what used to be chapters 5 and 6, now merged into one chapter 3. If you already read chapter 5 I'm sorry but I will mark with an author's note where chapter 6 starts. So just scroll on down to the bold print naming where the chapters used to split and start reading from there. No more editing has been done as far as content and thanks for all of the feedback!

* * *

Duke had left for his morning run by the time Arnold woke up the next morning. He didn't bother rolling out of bed before grabbing his phone and texting his girlfriend. _Breakfast?_

The response was quick as his phone buzzed in his hand. _Sounds great. Where?_ He texted her the location as he climbed out from under his blankets. He gathered his towel and shower caddy, along with a change of clothes before heading to the dorm showers.

He heard it before he saw it. Helga was laughing. Genuinely laughing. He looked over and saw her sitting across from Duke in the common room, still wearing his shorts and muscle shirt from his run. He was leaned over with his elbows against his knees smiling, telling her stories which Arnold didn't stick around to listen to.

"No really it happened." Duke told her. "Kicked him square in the jaw. I told him you can't tip a bull like you can a cow but he didn't listen."

Helga laughed harder. "And it didn't break the idiot's jaw?"

"Oh yeah, but after surgery my parents babied him like it was the bull's fault." His green eyes rolled in his head as he talked about his younger brother in a way that reminded Helga of herself when Olga's name came up. "What about you? You ever get into any trouble with your sis?"

She shook her head. "No not really. We're not really close." She laughed a bit, "but you try telling her that. I did change her straight-A report card once."

Duke smiled brightly. "To an F? All F's?"

Helga chuckled. "No. To a B. Just one little B+ on her shining report card." Duke gave her a look before she continued. "She still reacted like she'd just flunked out, though. Locked herself in her room and cried for days. My parents were _so_ worried about her. You'd think she'd just lost her best friend."

Duke Laughed. "Oh man when did she figure it out?"

"She didn't." She shrugged, thinking back on the scene in her mind. "I guess she never expected me to do something like that to her. I ended up coming clean about it to her."

"I bet she was pissed. Were you in a lot of trouble?"

Again, Helga only shook her head, smile mostly faded as she remembered, "Nah. Actually she took me out the next day, just us girls. And she promised to never tell my folks about it."

Duke was frowning when Helga looked back at him, arms crossed as if disappointed. "Hmm.. She sounds like a huge pushover." He laughed again.

Helga chuckled nervously, rubbing her arm a bit. "Heh. Yeah I guess so."

"Helga." Arnold stood behind her, drying his hair with a towel. "Did you get our project typed up?"

"Relax, Arnoldo, I'm on top of it. Besides, Class isn't for three more hours anyways. Where are you headed so early?"

Arnold rolled his eyes. "I have class in an hour and I am grabbing breakfast first."

Helga smirked, a sight all too familiar from their childhood. "Enjoy your date with your football headed girlfriend, football head." Duke laughed, as if he'd just then noted the comparison. Helga saluted the blonde as he walked away. "Later, partner."

Arnold dropped off his towel in his room and left to the café to meet Ruth. She'd already gotten a table and a coffee under an umbrella outside. He took a deep breath as he stepped off the bus platform and walked over to her. She greeted him with a smile and a wave. "Morning."

"Hey Ruth, look—"

"You know," she interrupted, a frown now replacing that warm greeting she'd had before, "I waited for you last night. I was really hungry."

Arnold sat, sighing. "You don't like Chinese food anyways." She huffed from across from him, taking a sip of her coffee. "Look, Ruth. We need to talk."

"Oh no." She sat up in her chair, back suddenly straight as a board. "You're not breaking up with me are you?"

Arnold was unsure whether her reaction was out of disappointment or out of anger. "No Ruth. I don't want to break up with you." He watched as her composure relaxed again, sitting back in her chair and holding her cup of coffee close to her, but avoiding eye contact. "I just wanted to talk."

* * *

Helga grabbed her bag from her room. She didn't know how she'd gotten so caught up talking to Goliath, but before she knew it, she was late for class. She ran across the green, barely able to make the campus bus before it left towards the science building. She leaned her head against the window after glancing at her phone for the time. She let out a sigh of relief. She'd be on time just so long as the bus ran on schedule and she ran to the classroom.

She was still catching her breath when the professor shut the door. She looked over at the empty chair next to her and realized Arnold had yet to arrive. _Didn't he have a class after that date? Where is that idiot?_ The professor began class by taking up their labs and she mentally kicked herself. _Don't worry Helga. He's not here. He'll never know. Just talk to the old man afterwards and see if he'll let you turn it in before midnight. _

It was at that moment that Arnold walked through the door. His hair was still—no—freshly wet. And he was wearing, Helga noticed, a different outfit than when he had left that morning. He sat beside Helga, dropping his bag on the floor. He pulled his notebook out of his bag and leaned over a bit to whisper to her. "Did you turn ours in already?"

Helga gulped and nodded slowly, still looking straight ahead at the front of the room. She hoped she wouldn't have to bring it up, noticing the bad mood her partner was already in.

"Pataki." She grimaced as she heard the professor's voice. "Your group not finish the reports?"

She could have kicked the teacher for calling her out like that. She felt the eyes of the class staring her down, especially the pair beside her. She couldn't bring herself to meet them. "They are done." She responded. "I just haven't printed them."

"They aren't finished." The man corrected. "If it's not in this stack, Helga, Arnold, it's not finished."

Not a word was said between the two of them through the lecture. Both were silently grateful that there wasn't a lab to do afterwards, and instead concentrated only on note taking. Arnold didn't even bother packing when the teacher dismissed them. He only grabbed his things, folding his notebook closed as he stood, and carried them out the door before Helga could attempt an apology. He couldn't make himself talk to the teacher, or try to find some reason why he should be able to make up the assignment. Instead, he went back to his room and locked the door.

He dropped his bag just inside, grateful that his roommate hadn't returned as he fell face first on his bed.

Ruth had dumped him. She didn't want to be tied down on her summer trip, and she'd decided that dragging it on when "Arnold obviously didn't like her the way that she was" would be pointless and more painful. When she got up to leave, she'd hit the table with her purse, knocking his coffee into her lap. She had at least apologized—the same apology that Arnold had given people as he bumped their shoulder in the hallway, but an apology nonetheless—before she left.

He'd knew he'd be late to class since he had to go back to his dorm to change pants, but he hadn't intended to take another shower. However, as he approached the door to the building, a freshman on the third floor dropped their tinfoil ashtray where they'd been sneaking a cigarette on the balcony. It was the only good luck Arnold had that none of the ashes were still hot.

Needless to say, the lab report had been the final straw of the day. All he wanted was to sleep the rest of the day away and start over, but there was a loud pounding at his door. He'd tried to ignore it at first, but when it continued on, he could only hope that Duke had forgotten his room keys and needed in.

Instead he was greeted with the site of a girl with blonde hair and a too-familiar pink bow. "Look Arnold I—"

"Shut it, Helga. What is this? Another one of your stupid pranks? How old are you?"

"No I—"

"I've had it, Helga. You had one thing to do. One simple thing. Type up the report using my notes. That was it."

"Listen to me—"

"But you were too busy talking to Duke to even remember one thing. I'm done, Helga. I'm done."

Helga dropped her hand from the air where she had tried to get his attention to let her speak. She knew by then it was useless to try, instead she took a step back from the doorway as he finished his rant.

"I'll withdraw from the class. You were right. We don't work well together. We never have and we never will." He put his hand on the door. "Goodbye, Helga."

He didn't hear her as the door closed. His phone was buzzing repeatedly in his pocket. He pulled it out and took a breath before answering. "Hey Mr. Hyunh."

* * *

**A/N: this is where chapter 6 began!**

* * *

Helga turned from the doorway. She knew he wasn't going to listen, not if he could possibly help it. She turned on her heel to the stairs, making her way back to her room as she texted him, hoping he'd read it when he'd calmed down. _I got him to accept it by midnight. I'll get it done_. But there was no response. She didn't even anticipate there would be.

Thursday afternoon, Helga still hadn't heard from him, or even seen him. She went to the lab, got her report back, and looked over at the lab table she shared with him. Arnold never showed by Friday she decided to call Phoebe. "I don't get it. It was one stupid assignment, Phoebs. There was no reason for him to fly off the handle like that." She paced across her dorm room, hands flying in the air as she ranted on.

"Helga it's not really about the assignment." Phoebe's small voice tried to get through past the rage of her best friend.

"I get that. He looked like crap when he first got there, but that's not my problem and it's not my fault." Helga stomped across the room and kicked the wall.

"No it isn't, his anger came from something different but he's not at school because of—"

"His girlfriend probably dumped them on their little breakfast date or whatever." She rolled her eyes, imagining the brunette leaving him all alone, thinking to herself _I don't hate to say I told you so, football-head._

"Well they did break up but Helga—"

She smiled darkly as she interrupted once more. "I knew it. I knew it wouldn't last. I knew she was a—"

"Helga!" Phoebe interrupted her, causing the blonde to stop in her tracks mid-pace in her dorm room. "He's not in class because his grandmother died."

* * *

Gertie had went quickly, they had told him. No one could tell him exactly what happened, though. They found her in her gi on the roof of the boarding house. Some say she had a heart attack while practicing her moves on invisible ninjas. Others say she tripped and fell and no one heard her. Another rumor, the one that sat best with Arnold, was she was in such a deep meditation she was able to stop her own heart and not start it back.

No matter what the reason, however, Arnold couldn't bring himself to accept the news. Mr. Hyunh had called and told him to come home, but he wouldn't tell him why, just that it was urgent. Grandpa was waiting for him on the front stoop, sitting with his chin resting on his hand and his arm propped on his knee. He told Arnold the news carefully, as if he wasn't entirely sure what he was saying. Arnold asked him if he was okay and Phil could only give him a small smile and a shrug. "To tell ya the truth, Shortman, I really don't know."

He texted Gerald, still unable to say the words out loud. His friend was there at the boarding house the very next day. He brought flowers and left them in the living room with all of the rest. All of the boarders stayed in their rooms, unable to talk to each other about how things were going to change.

* * *

Helga took the first bus she could back home. She never bothered calling her parents before she left. She'd dug into her savings for the bus tickets, and even more so at the flower shop where she spend more than an hour choosing flowers. She stood outside the boarding house for fifteen minutes that evening before making her way up the front steps. She found herself criticizing the flowers in her hand and questioning their worth for the situation.

She shook her head. _Get it together, Helga, old girl. Just knock on the damn door. He probably won't even answer it._ She was right. The Czechoslovakian man who sometimes pretended to be a homeless beggar in the neighborhood answered the door instead. "Yes yes. What do you want?"

As much as Helga wanted to smart off to the man for greeting her so rudely, she bit her cheek and simply held the flowers out to him.

"Yes you can put them in the living room with the rest." He pointed to the inside of the house as he opened the door.

Helga took a peek inside as the door cracked open a little more. There were only a handful of times she'd been inside the boarding house, and even fewer that she'd actually been invited. She saw the stairs that led to the bedrooms, where she'd sleepwalked into the shower, stolen answering machine tapes, and a couple of times, snuck into Arnold's own room to catch a bird or steal back her journal. This time, however, she couldn't bring herself to step inside, despite the invitation.

"Here just take them." She held the flowers again. The man continued to stare at her as she stretched her arms out to him. "Come on, guy I can't just stand out here all day."

He finally took the flowers from her. "These are very heavy. Why did you buy such heavy flowers?"

Helga rolled her eyes and turned away. "Whatever. Just make sure they get them."

Oskar tried to carry the flowers to the living room, however the weight of them was just too much. Not to mention he thought they looked much better in the umbrella stand just inside the door.

* * *

Phil stayed in the living room watching tv, surrounded by wreaths and flower arrangements given by the people in the neighborhood. Arnold barely remembered the funeral. It was short and quiet. No one expected a world without Pookie. Least of all, Arnold and his Grandpa.

Saturday morning, Arnold needed a change. He woke up, went to the living room, and cut off the television set. "C'mon grandpa. Let's go fishing."

"I don't know, Shortman. I'm feeling kind of sick today…" The old man looked everywhere except at his grandson. "It's not a good day for fishing. Too late in the day, you know?"

"Grandpa come on. You can't just sit here."

"Why not? I'm an old man, Arnold, I should be able to do what I want, don't ya think?" He wagged his finger at his grandson. "And shouldn't you be heading back to your big school?"

Arnold shrugged his shoulders. "Actually, Grandpa, I was thinking of transferring closer to home so I could move back."

"No no no." Grandpa leaned forward, waving his hands in front of him. "You are not quitting your fancy school."

"I wouldn't be quitting." Arnold couldn't help but smile at the sudden life that was brought back to the old man. "I mean I'd have to withdraw this semester but I'd go right back in the spring."

"No way is my grandson quitting even one single semester. Besides, you love that school."

Arnold scratched the back of his head nervously and looked down at his feet. "I dunno, Grandpa. That school just isn't the same anymore."

"Because your girlfriend broke up with you? Arnold since when did you become a kid that gives up when things change? You chose that school for her but you chose college for yourself. You can't let her bring you down."

Arnold smiled. He'd been so worried about his grandfather, he'd never focused on the right choice for himself. Leave is to Steely Phil to give him the best advice, no matter his own troubles. "Thanks, Grandpa. But are you sure? I mean I don't want you to be here all alone."

"Arnold are you crazy?" Phil stood up and walked to the kitchen door, pulling it open quickly. As he did, three men fell, shortest to tallest, through the doorway onto the floor. Ernie, Oskar, and Mr. Hyunh each had a glass in their hands as they fell from the kitchen. Phil only laughed. "You really think these oafs are going to ever leave me alone?"

The boy couldn't help but laugh as the three stood back up. "No. I guess not."

"We were very worried!" Mr. Hyunh fixed his shirt as he hid the glass behind his back.

"Yeah, gramps, are you okay?" Ernie's hair—what was left of it—had gone almost completely gray.

Oskar ran to Phil with open arms spread wide as he cried the biggest crocodile tears he'd ever cried. "Grandpa! We were so worried about you!"

Phil pushed the man away as Kokoshka only clung tighter to him. Arnold watched as the two other men joined in an unwanted group hug, all the while Grandpa shoving and screaming at them. Arnold only smiled, "Looks like you're pretty well taken care of, Grandpa."

He turned away towards the stairs to his room before he realized it. "Hey Grandpa?"

"Yeah, Shortman?"

"How'd you know Ruth dumped me?"

The old man only shrugged and patted him on the shoulder as he escaped the embrace of his tenants. "Because she's not here." He smiled a little and ruffled his hair. "She didn't even send flowers." Phil put his hands on his hips and looked the blonde in the eye. "You know I think if she were worth the trouble, she would have sent something even if you weren't together, don't you?"

Arnold nodded slowly, letting the knowledge sink in. "You're right." His smile widened slightly across his face. "Thanks, Grandpa. I'll go get packing."

The next morning, Arnold brought his suitcase down once again to say goodbye to his family as he headed back to college. He turned to them with a heavy heart as he felt the tug in his chest, noticing one less person waving goodbye. He turned to the door before he could dwell in the hallway too long. "Why are there flowers in the umbrella stand?"

He heard an innocent laugh from Oskar standing behind him. "Ah hahaha, don't you think they look nice there, Arnold? One of your friends dropped them off on Friday, I think."

Arnold picked the flowers out of the stand, petals falling to the floor due to the lack of water. He gently plucked the card out from them before Suzie Kokoshka took the arrangement to the kitchen. He turned the card over in his hand and read it to himself. _I'm sorry. -Helga_

* * *

**A/N:** Sooo chapter 5 is now a thing. People have been asking about angry irrational Arnold so here you go. Things are goin' down now! So I've been writing ahead of that I post, that way I don't have to rush myself any. And I've gotten to a point where I have 2 options I could go with. I could end the story with a simple ending at around 10 chapters. Or I could had one more conflict and let it go on to about 15 chapters in total. The conflict was supposed to be part of the story to begin with and the story took a different turn, but I also never intended it to be a long story past 10 chapters.

If you dislike something in the story I still very much appreciate feedback and I do take it into consideration when writing and editing. I've started putting bars between POV breaks when they aren't a soft transition, I'm trying to keep everyone in character as much as possible. Helga is a jerk. She always has been and she always will be. Helga likes stupid jokes at other peoples expense, always has and always will. Those jokes mature, she matures. I want the same Helga with walls up as she was before, just no hiding in alleyways and fawning over him. Because, like she said in the beginning, she sees her feelings for him as a weight on her shoulders that she's long-since tired of carrying.

Also Arnold has never been the perfect guy so remember that as well. He used Timberly to get Lilah to like him, he screamed at Helga while they were doing the egg assignment before she had a chance to speak (just like above?) he ditched his grandpa who took him camping in the woods to hang out in an rv just like Max in The Goofy Movie. He's a great guy, but he has flaws too.

So a couple of questions from the last reviews I got:

**Why doesn't Helga ditch the bow?  
**This comes from Craig Bartlett himself, the creator of these fine characters. In an interview about "The Patakis" A show about the family that never (but should have) hit off, he stated that she's stubborn and never loses the bow, but will hide it (in that case under a hat), and in my fic she changes the placement to make it a bit more subtle.

**Well, I won't be reading any more of this. That's for sure.  
**I honestly dislike reviews like this. Not because they are negative, but because there's no reasoning. Do you hate Helga? Okay nothing I can do about you hating the fic because Helga's kind of a main. Do you hate romance? Once again I can't do anything about that. Do I have bad grammar? Tell me what I messed up on and I'll fix it. Is someone out of character? Stop, Elaborate, I'll listen (hehe). Negative feedback is still feedback. I appreciate anything you give me that I can work with.

**I was surprised you made Ruth Arnold's love interest instead of Lila.**  
I figured Lila and Arnold would have dated in high school eventually when Lila decides to give boys a chance. In my mind she ends up finding some sweet guy and settling down with a kid and being a stay at home mom and totally happy with that (I see nothing wrong with stay at home moms/dads. Hardest jobs in the world.) Ruth would go on to college and Arnold loves giving second chances so I feel like they could have attempted to hit it off again. We see how that worked out, right?

So any more questions feel free to shoot me a review. Send me an email and we can chat about it. My email lucky . meryl gmail . com is I hope to hear from everyone soooonn

Also if you have a question about who the pairing is in this story, add it to your review and I will answer you if I can. But honestly I didn't think there'd be a question to it.

So that's that. I still very very much enjoy feedback and I will tell you anything you want to know about the story if you review under a username or give me an email to respond to you. Even if it's a negative review I LOVE constructive feedback so tell me what I did wrong, tell me what I did right, and tell me what I should do. I might not follow your advice word for word but it does effect what I put into my writing. Thanks everyone for the support!


	4. When?

"Long time no see, football head." Arnold frowned at the sound of Duke using the long lasting nickname which Helga had given him. Duke turned his head slightly. "What?"

The blonde shook it off as he began unpacking. "Nothing. Nevermind."

Duke clapped a heavy hand on Arnold's shoulder. "I heard what happened. Sorry, man."

"It's fine. Thanks." He was still putting up his clothing from his suitcase when he found the card he'd shoved into the front pocket of his bag when he boarded the bus. _I'm sorry. – Helga_. Suddenly the harsh reminder hit him of how he'd treated her before he left. He'd vaguely remembered reading a text from her on his way home about the assignment and the extension she'd gotten. As the memory flooded back into his mind, he couldn't help but sit as the guilt set in on his shoulders. "Hey Duke."

The tall boy was lounging in his bed with his laptop, looking up at him as he was called. "Yeah?"

"Know where Helga is?"

Duke shrugged. "I guess her room. I haven't seen my muse in a few days."

Arnold couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Your muse?"

"Yeah. She makes for great writing. She might even get me in the student art showcase they publish near the end of the semester."

"I thought they never chose freshmen for that."

Duke flashed him his signature smile. "They will this year."

* * *

Helga couldn't stand her roommate. Sandra was rarely around and still managed to leave her mark on the room. As much as Helga had always kept her room clean and organized, Sandra drove her insane. Helga constantly found herself picking up old trash and kicking dirty laundry over to Sandra's side of the room. She was still cleaning when she heard a knock on the door, causing her to curse under her breath as she was interrupted.

She threw the door open with a scowl that was normally reserved for her family. "What." Her eyes widened as she realized who was standing in her doorway. "Oh—Arnold. Sorry. I was just…my stupid roommate…she left a mess again and…what do you want?"

Arnold laughed. "It's fine. Look…" He ran his hand through his hair as he spoke, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry for yelling at you last week. You didn't make me mad, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I would have apologized sooner—"

"I know. And look I'm sorry about your grandma."

"Yeah. I got the flowers. Thanks." He looked down at the floor, still avoiding her gaze as the awkward silence set in between them. "A-ah…" he choked a bit, face turning bright red as he noticed what she'd been standing on. "Helga?" He pointed down to her feet.

Helga's face turned as pink as his as she realized, and as pink as the pair of panties stuck underneath her foot. "The-they aren't mine!" She kicked them behind her into the room. "My stupid roommate. I told you she's messy!"

"Right! Yeah!" He was as flustered as she was, unable to fully avert his attention from the floor until they disappeared into the dorm. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

She glared, face still glowing despite the look. "Like you haven't seen underwear before. " She covered. "Criminy, you're such a kid!" And before she had to face him for another second she slammed the door shut. She turned on her heel away from the entryway and narrowed her eyes on the garment, snatching it from the floor, and throwing it into her laundry basket with the rest of her clothes.

Arnold rubbed his nose as he walked down the stairs. As much as he'd wanted to believe that the clothing didn't belong to the blunt and brutal blonde known as Helga G. Pataki, he couldn't shake the image of the pink lace on the floor accented by a distinct pink bow.

* * *

Helga worked in the common area that night, unable to concentrate while Sandra was on the phone crying to her mother about being homesick. She'd already finished her homework but midterms started that week, and spring break right after and she wanted to know she could enjoy the week off without worrying too much about her grades. So she found herself curled into herself on the couch that Sunday evening, her eyes focused on her textbook.

A weight fell onto the seat beside her, causing her eyes to cross and lose focus. She glared at the intruder beside her. "Hey, Girly." Goliath waved at her. "Studying hard?"

She rolled her eyes and focused back on her text book. "Yeah. So zip it, gigantoid."

Duke laughed a little." Ouch. And I thought we were friends."

"First of all," her head turned back up to him, her smirk playing across her lips, "that's how I talk to all of my friends. Second, who said we were friends?" And with that, she turned back to her text.

The brunette only laughed and nudged her, distracting her once more. "So." She looked over at him, slightly more irritated at the constant disruption and in no way afraid to show it. He ignored scowl, however, as he continued. "What are you doing for spring break? Going home?"

"Probably not. Any time away from my family is a vacation in itself."

Duke made himself more comfortable on the couch and turned towards her. "So it's not just your sister that you don't get along with?"

Helga shrugged and looked back to her book.

"You aren't going to give me any good stories today?"

"I'm trying to study." She pulled her book closer against her, as if to rub in the hint he should have already picked up. "Midterms start hmm…oh tomorrow?"

He laughed. "Yeah. I guess you have a good point." He stood up to leave, causing and unstoppable sigh of relieve to escape from her lungs. "How about we pick this conversation back up on Friday after midterms? I leave to go home on Saturday morning but how about we grab a post-test dinner?"

Helga blinked slowly. Did she really just get asked out by Goliath? "Ahh…" she looked up at him, craning her neck to meet his stupid smile. "Yeah I guess. You're paying though."

"You got it." He waved to her quickly and returned to his room, entering with a smile towards his roommate. "I'm taking her out on Friday."

Arnold looked up from his book as his friend collapsed on the bed across from him. "Taking who out?"

"Helga." He had a large grin on his face as he explained. "I'm taking her to dinner and we're going to tell more stories. The entries are due Saturday morning so I'll be cutting it close, especially considering my bus heads back home at noon so I guess I'm pulling and all nighter—"

"Wait, Duke, slow down." Duke was already opening his computer, but looked up at Arnold when interrupted, allowing the blonde to continue. "Are you taking her out on a date? Or are you taking her out for an interview?"

The large boy only shrugged. "I dunno. Mainly I just want inspiration but what happens happens, if you know what I mean." He laughed and turned back to his laptop. "Most important thing is the stories."

Arnold put his text book down. "You didn't give her the wrong idea did you?"

"Oh no. I only invited her to an after midterm dinner to tell stories. She's the one who insisted I pay."

Arnold laughed a bit as he imagined her demanding food from a man who was easily twice her size. "Yeah. That sounds like Helga."

"Oh yeah you've known her since you were kids, right? Can you tell me more about when she as younger?" Duke had his fingers positioned on the keyboard.

Arnold shrugged. "I don't know. She was…more violent? Louder? Bossier?" He chuckled. "Just more… Helga than she is now, I guess." Duke was tapping away at his laptop as he spoke. "She was the queen of pranks. She even convinced me she was blind once and that it was all my fault. And she was always the group leader when we played sports. She was great at baseball, even wearing a dress."

"She wore a dress playing baseball?"

"She always wore a dress. A pink one. With pigtails and a big pink bow on her head. She dressed that way until middle school." He smiled thinking back on it. "She was actually a model for the style back in fourth grade. They called her—"

"It girl?"

Arnold nodded. "And she hated it."

"She hated the work or the attention?"

"The attention and everyone copying her. She likes being the one and only Helga G. Pataki."

Duke nodded and continue typing. "All tomboy in a pink dress. Did she write poetry back then?"

"I don't know. She wasn't very open about her hobbies except for sports and what she did in school. If she didn't tell you about something it just wasn't your business." He thought back as far as he could into their school life. "In 10th grade we had to read a poem aloud that we wrote. She blurted out some 'roses are red' poem and sat back down."

"She's secretive…" Duke mumbled to himself. "So you don't know about her family then?"

"Not really. I've met her dad a few times, he's not the friendliest guy."

"So that's where Helga gets it from then."

Arnold shook his head. "She's nicer than him. Just not very good at showing it. She loves her family though. And she loves her friends. Deep down she's just like any other girl."

Duke laughed. "That's hard to believe but I guess you know what you're talking about."

Arnold set his book on the bedside table and turned down his blankets as he continued, "She helped save the whole neighborhood, though. I guess that's more than any other girl, though." He thought back to the two fourth graders, the roof of the FTi building, and the confession. Her confession and the kiss. It was awkward and forced and painful. She pulled him so hard he was surprised that he hadn't busted his lip against his teeth. Despite the awkward moment, however, he had to admit, without her, saving the neighborhood would have been impossible.

"Thanks Arnold." Duke pulled Arnold from his memories as he put away his laptop for the night. "You should get to bed. You know midterms start tomorrow. I hope you studied."

Arnold laughed and shut his lamp off. "Let me read that story when you've finished it."

With a yawn, his roommate replied. "Sure thing."

* * *

The week came and went as Helga breezed through her midterms. She'd never been a straight A student like Olga or Phoebe, but her teachers always knew it was more an issue of will rather than skill that kept her at a B average instead. At the end of the week before spring break, Helga felt comfortable relaxing, sure of herself after all the testing was said and done.

She thumped the blonde head on the couch as she walked into the common room of the dorm. "Sup, geek-bait? The professor post grades yet?" she fell onto the seat beside him, her good mood distracting her from the effect of his presence next to her. Over the course of the past few months, she'd almost become entirely immune to his everyday existence in her life, despite the fact that the feelings still existed.

Arnold nodded and turned his laptop toward her. "We got a B on the lab. Would have been an A had it not been late."

Helga rolled her eyes. "I thought that was over with, football-head."

He laughed. "It's over, it's over." He closed his laptop and set it on the table. "How'd you do on midterms."

She waved him off and relaxed a bit on the couch. "Don't worry about me, Arnoldo, I passed. You all packed for your trip back to the neighborhood? Hey while you're there say hi to the guys for me. They still living in that apartment over Green Meats?"

"Harold is working there now so they get a discount so Sid and Stinky still live there too. But I'm not going home. I am having to catch up from being out last week, so I have two papers due and a reading assignment after break. And the boarding house isn't really a great place for school work, you know?"

Helga laughed. "I know how that goes. Dad's always yelling at my place, mom's always passed out ignoring him on the couch or the kitchen table, and Olga is irritatingly perky as usual."

"So what time is your dinner with Duke?"

If Arnold didn't know better, he'd swear Helga almost blushed as she responded. "Oh he told you about that?" She laughed a bit, pink faintly spreading across her cheeks. "I'm supposed to meet him here in a couple of hours. I don't know where we're going still though."

Arnold got off the couch, grabbing his laptop as he stood. "Well have fun. See you around, Helga."

Helga watched him leave. She knew she should have been disappointed about his apathy towards her date, but she wasn't.

* * *

Dates were neither frequent nor foreign to Helga. She knew how to dress and behave, and she knew her date with Duke would be no exception. She made her way down the dorm staircase carefully dressed for any scene in a pair of nice jeans and a black square neck top that hung low on her hips. She'd carefully tied a pink ribbon around her waist in a bow at her back. The ribbon accented her bust, and the jeans showcased her long legs. She was dressed in a dark enough outfit that it would be suitable for a nice sit down restaurant, but casually enough for a sit in the café or walk in the park.

"Helga?" Duke was waiting for her in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. He had a pocket notebook with him which he slid into his back pocket as she approached. He was dressed in a tee-shirt and blue jeans. "You look nice. Hungry?"

She nodded. "Yep. Lead the way, Goliath."

He chuckled. "I hope you aren't expecting too fancy. I don't have a lot of cash and I figured talking was more important than the food anyways." He walked her outside with his hands in his pockets.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" She found herself staying one step behind him to straighten her hair from the wind without him noticing.

"I figured just dinner and some story telling." He shrugged and walked her past the bus stop.

"So we're staying on campus then?" She kept following, glancing back at the platform as they went.

"Yeah I have to leave early tomorrow so closer is better."

Helga forgot her worries and let her hair get tossed in the breeze, speeding up to his side. She was regretting the boots she'd chosen, anticipating a cab ride or even a bus ride to whichever eatery he'd decided on. She kept his pace silently as they walked across the campus, stopping suddenly as he headed up the set of steps to the campus caf. "We're having dinner at the caf. I thought you said you were paying."

Duke laughed. "I got it covered."

She took a deep breath, trying to convince herself as he swiped his id twice at the door, once for his meal and once for hers, that the date would get better. It only could get better, right?

A half hour passed as she picked over her plate of campus mashed potatoes and Salisbury steak, answering questions he had about her family and her home-life and her childhood. Finally she dropped her knife, which she'd been unconsciously gripping in her right hand and glared up at him. "Look, I'm tired of the damn interrogation. Tell me about you instead." She knew that there was a better way to ask about him, but she couldn't bring herself to stay in nice mode for much longer.

"I lived with a mom, dad, two dogs, and a little brother. My parents own a grocery store and my brother is in high school. Nothing interesting." He smiled. "Your life is so much more fascinating, however. You're like a character from some kind of brilliant novel or somethin'. I can't seem to get it down."

She sighed and picked up her tray "Thanks, man, but I'm not someone to be 'gotten down' on paper." She stood up. "And just FYI, the caf is a terrible place for a date. No matter what your reason."

"Wait, Helga." He stood, tucking the small notebook from his hand back into his back pocket. "I—"

"Have you been taking notes?" She slammed her tray back down on the table, her glass fell, spilling juice all over the table and floor. Her glare never faltered off of him. "I'm not some kind of wild animal to document."

"That's not what I was doing at all."

"Yeah well what were you doing then, Bucko."

"You're the inspiration for my short story. I'm writing about you."

She rolled her eyes. "My life isn't yours to write about. I'm not your character. And this was a shitty date."

"It wasn't supposed to be a date."

Helga flashed him her trademark smirk. "Good. Then I won't feel out of line doing this." She picked up the bowl of soft serve from his tray and her smile grew. He was telling her that she could have the dessert just as she brought it over his head, letting it drop out of the bowl with a satisfying _plop_ against his auburn hair. She may have heard him stand up, but she was already walking towards the door, making her grand exit.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry I'm late! I hope you guys don't mind the longer chapters. I'm trying to provide the supply to fit the demand. thanks everyone for your input. I hope you enjoyed!


	5. Why?

Arnold sighed as he stared at the blank page glowing on the computer screen in front of him. The bright reminder of work to come didn't help ease the urge to go out and enjoy his Friday night that began his spring break. He could have been out at the school's many parties, on his way to visit his friends and family back home, or even playing video games in his dorm. Instead, however, in an attempt to focus and finish at least one of his late assignments, he'd forced himself to the library, away from distraction.

"Excuse me, sir."

Arnold jumped, almost bumping heads with the elderly librarian as he turned to her. "Oh, I'm sorry." She patted his shoulder gently with her bony hand. "I didn't mean to startle you. It's almost time for us to be closing."

"Oh. Okay. Thank you ma'am." He closed his laptop and began wrapping up the cord to pack away.

"We'll open back up on Monday. We'll be open all week until four."

Arnold nodded. "Thank you." He shoved his cord and laptop into his bag as he stood. He should have known it'd be impossible to focus on a Friday night. Especially before vacation, even if it was a vacation filled with makeup assignments. He pulled on his backpack and headed back to the dorms instead.

The lights were off in most of the buildings as he walked through the campus. The street lights were dim along the sidewalk and most of the students who were normally filling the campus streets with mopeds and sports cars and other vehicles paid for by wealthy parents, were already gone on whatever springtime adventure they had chosen for the week.

Through the yellow haze of lamp posts, Arnold could vaguely make out the sky, crowded with stars and accented by the full moon. He wasn't in the mood for a party and game seemed like a waste for the night. A better idea, he'd decided, was to take a walk through the science department's botanical garden.

Nothing could replace the sight of the moon, glowing through the tinted greenhouse roof. The sprinklers were misting lazily over the greenery, reflecting the night throughout the glass building. As beautiful as the view was, however, Arnold made his way through to the back door.

The biology and botany students of years before had created a maze as a senior project, and it grew more vibrant and astounding each semester. Now the walls of lattice and vines had just begun to bloom with flowers of every breed and color. On one side of him was a wall of climbing roses, and on the other was a wall wisteria. From the center of the maze, a large willow tree towered over, it's long branches and leaves hanging almost to the ground, dressed in the same vines that scattered throughout the maze of trellises, and honeysuckle and rose.

Arnold made his way through the garden at an easy pace, taking in the scents and sights as he walked. The walls ended as the moonlight fell through the branches in contrasting bright beams under the darkness of the tree's shade. Beyond the vines, against the trunk, he saw her sitting there with her face against her knees. "Helga?"

The blonde girl lifted her head, glaring at the boy in front of her. She was mad, and by the look on his face Arnold knew it. She was mad at Duke for trying to make her his character. She was mad at Arnold for finding her. She was mad at herself for dropping her guard. But more than mad, she was hurt, embarrassed, and just plain exhausted.

"Are you alright, Helga?" Arnold took a step towards her, a daring move, he knew, but his feet moved before he could consider it. "You look upset."

"I'm just _fine_, foot-ball head." She spit out the words with a venom she'd never used with him. She pushed herself to her feet and turned away from him towards the exit.

"Helga!"

"Leave me alone, Arnoldo." Her voice had softened, but he could tell she meant it. She didn't turn back to him as she walked away. She felt the gentle tug as her shirt was caught loosely on a passing tree branch, but never stopped beyond the swat of her hand to release herself.

Arnold watched her leave, picking up the pink ribbon that had been pulled lose as she went. He gently folded it and slid it into his pocket as he sighed. "Duke…" he muttered to himself, "What did you do to her?"

* * *

"What are you talking about?" The brunette glanced up at his roommate for a brief second after being questioned before narrowing his eyes back at his laptop screen. "I didn't do anything to her. She just blew up at me and threw ice cream on my head."

"She was really upset earlier, Duke. Are you sure you clarified that it wasn't a date?" His frown deepened as he moved Duke's wet towel off of his bed in order to sit down.

"I never told her it was. She's the one who got the wrong idea."

Arnold's eyes narrowed. "Did you ever clarify? She's still a girl. You know when you say you're taking her out—"

"I never said I was taking her out. I just invited her to grab dinner and talk. She insisted on my paying. I already told you that, didn't I?"

"I didn't think you'd actually lead her on like that."

He shrugged. "It wasn't my intention. She's wild and unpredictable, you know that." He laughed lightly.

Arnold crossed his arms, his eyes sharp as they glared at the boy. "She's still a girl. She still has feelings."

Duke chuckled again, shaking his head as if amused. "That 'girl' is only capable of one feeling. Anger. And it's what makes her a great writing subject."

"She's not a character in your story! And she's capable of more than you would ever know."

He looked up at Arnold again, with a bemused smile playing on his lips. "Tell me about her then."

Arnold was slackjawed. He'd never had a problem with his roommate before, but the man in front of him with a cocky smile was not the fellow student he'd considered a friend. "I'm not telling you anything. She's none of your business."

Duke rolled his eyes as he turned back to this computer. "You act like she's _human_ or something."

* * *

Helga was relieved to see her roommate had already left before she got back to her dorm. A week without her family, school, her disgusting roommate, or Duke, was a welcome vacation, indeed. She slept in, ordered pizza, and avoided leaving her room beyond the bathroom break until well past lunch, when she found herself, eventually, craving sunlight, and made her way downstairs. She passed the boy in the common room, his blonde head bent over his computer and books splayed around him. She wanted to bother him, her hand was even raised to thump him in the back of the head, but she couldn't get her mind off of their last meeting.

Helga had become a pro at drying her eyes before anyone saw her. The fact that it had been dark only made the task of concealing her emotions easier when Arnold has walked up. She couldn't bring herself, after all those years, to let anyone, let alone him, see her when she was down. The few times he had found her worrying or depressed, he'd always given her irreplaceable advice and unconditionally kind words. She knew that he'd have done the same there in the garden, and so she left. She was still trying to get over him. She had high hopes for Duke. The last thing she'd need was him consoling his way back in, deeper into her than before.

When he intruded, her eyes had narrowed, because she couldn't believe him. Once again she'd found a place to avoid him and there he was. Once again she'd tried to move on and was pulled right back to square one. She wanted his sweet words, she wanted his hand on her shoulder, she wanted everything he could possibly offer her and she hated herself for it. She hated that every time her walls fell she pined for him. She hated that even though he always treated her like a friend, she wanted him to. She hated that what was nothing to him meant everything to her.

So when he'd appeared in her time of need, just like he'd always done, she hated him for it. And that feeling hadn't faded by morning. She'd considered a lot of things when she saw him on that couch. Walking away and avoiding him longer, rubbing her fist against his skull with an old fashioned noogie, knocking his books in the floor, or stealing his lunch all came to mind. She smiled, however, as she decided on her punishment.

Gracefully, she walked around him, her fingers playing across the keys of his laptop and tapping the power button, sending the computer into sleep mode. He grumbled as she fell into the seat across from him. Her smile fell as he glared at her.

His left eye was dark and bruised. His right fist was bandaged, resting on a folded blanket and pillow stacked at his side. "What happened to you? Lose a fight with a door?" She laughed a bit.

Somehow he knew, through her terrible way of showing it, she was concerned. Something in the way her smile faded when she saw him was proof that she worried. "It's nothing, Helga." She couldn't know he'd tried to punch his roommate. He couldn't tell her about Duke's comments, and how they had struck a nerve he wasn't aware he'd had. And he definitely couldn't tell her that he'd missed and hit the wall behind Duke before his roommate punched him instead before kicking him out of the dorm.

"Did you sleep out here?" as carefully as she'd chosen the words, her tone still held the accusatory edge she'd always had.

Arnold shrugged. "Duke would have kept me up if I'd stayed in the dorm." It wasn't a total lie.

Helga couldn't hold back the huff that escaped at the mention of the man who had ruined her night. "Don't even bring that guy up."

He sighed. They were both on the same side about him. Lucky for her, she wouldn't have to spend another two months sharing a living space with him. He pushed his laptop in his bag, giving up for the moment on his essay once again. This time he'd at least gotten halfway done. "Looks like everyone has gone home for break."

She looked around at the quiet dormitory building. "Yep. Looks like we've got the whole campus virtually to ourselves." She smiled. "That's a lot of trouble we could get into, eh football-head?"

"I'd rather not get kicked out of school, thanks, Helga." Arnold laughed and zipped his bag.

She scoffed at him. "As chicken as usual, eh?"

He frowned a little. "I'm not a chicken."

She motioned to the window. "Tell it to the life unlived then."

The boy smirked. "Did you forget about me sneaking through a high security building for a piece of paper at nine years old?"

"Big whoop. You did one big thing in your whole life. Might I remind you who saved your butt during that spy mission?"

"Sorry, sorry. How could I ever forget, Deep Voice." He laughed with her as the memories came flooding back once again. The roof, the kiss, and the confession. He felt his cheeks burn as he glanced up at her. She turned her face away from him as he caught a glimpse of the same shade of pink staining her face.

"Yeah." She chuckled a bit. "That was pretty wild…"

He nodded and looked down. "Yeah… wild." A few seconds passed in the silence before he cleared his throat. "So…" he started, standing. She glanced up at him and he smiled. "What kind of trouble did you want to get into?"

She grinned and jumped to her feet. "Plenty of it."

* * *

By evening the two had jumped the fence to the swim team's pool, drawn on all the white boards in the English building, successfully avoided the campus security to sneak into the art wing, and climbed up to the roof to look over the entire school while splitting Chinese food enough for five, courtesy of Big Bob's college emergency credit card. Helga leaned back on her hand and sighed. "Thanks for the grub, pop."

Arnold laughed and rubbed his stomach. "This has been fun." They sat on the ledge with their legs dangling off the side of the building. "We didn't really get into much trouble though."

Helga rolled her eyes. "Doi. We don't want to get kicked out of school." She chuckled. "Besides, spring break just started." She turned to him with a smirk.

He smiled. Helga was being fun. All day she'd run around with a smile on her face and jump in her step. She was friendly and fun and nice. But with every punch to his shoulder or minor insult that she'd thrown at him, she was still Helga. "Why aren't you cool like this all the time?"

The faintest pink made its way across her cheeks again as she rolled her eyes. "My therapist has been trying to figure that out for years."

"You see a therapist?" He didn't know why he was surprised. He'd met her family. He knew what they did to her. He remembered how often she'd opened an empty lunch box because her mom had forgotten to pack anything, or her father called her by the wrong name as if only one sister was ever on his mind. It's no wonder she always had her walls up.

Helga thumped him on the forehead, snapping him back to reality as she laughed. "Relax, Arnold-o, I'm not some tortured soul. I got sent to her after too many fights in school." She couldn't help the smile on her face. He was doing it again. Being too nice for his own good by worrying about her. Or rather, being too nice for _her _own good.

"Okay." He knew she was lying. Her walls were back up and stronger than ever. He wanted to try and break them down. Truthfully he'd always wanted to. He always remembered that girl who missed her mom when she went to work, worried about her dad, always stood up for her friends no matter who or what stood in her way. He wanted to see that girl without all the defenses.

"Hey Helga?" she looked over at him. Her eyes were wide, and walls down, almost taking him by surprise. "Ah…" he cleared his throat a bit. "Today has been a lot of fun…" he repeated.

She smiled, knowing her "Arnold limit" had been met for the day, but it was hard to make herself move. Nevertheless, she forced herself to her feet. "Yeah. Time to call it a night though. You have makeup work to do, don't you?"

"Oh…ah, yeah. Guess I forgot." He rose to his feet as well, standing barely above her but awkwardly close.

She jumped from the small ledge to the graveled roof, trying to make space between them.

"I guess it's back to the dorms then." Arnold stepped down slowly, foot sliding on an empty Chinese food box under his foot.

"Arnold!"

He didn't realize he was falling, until he landed.

* * *

**A/n:** I know it's a shorter chapter. I really tried to make it longer but I just couldn't do it and if I forced it anymore it either wouldn't leave that great cliffhanger or you'd feel the force behind it as your read. Sooo... I hope that's a good chapter.

Lovey bits are happening! Yayy!

Also, changed the title!


	6. What?

"_Arnold!"_

_He didn't realize he was falling until he landed._

* * *

His right arm was sore with gravel bearing into his elbows and the muscles in his shoulder sore from being stretched. His knees were surely scuffed with rocks bearing into them as he pushed himself up carefully onto his hands. He'd fallen forward with a harsh pull from the girl below him. His wrist was still burning where she grabbed him. "Helga?" Her eyes slowly opened, blinking up at him. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She only nodded in response. Thoughts were rushing through her head. He's the one who fell off the roof. He's the one who could have gotten hurt. So why was he asking about her? And why was he so damn close? "Get off of me." She mumbled, shoving him away lightly.

He backed away, taking a breath. "You saved my life."

Helga rolled her eyes, avoiding his in the process as she pointedly focused on the gravel digging into the backs of her legs. "We're only on the third floor. You probably wouldn't have died."

"Yeah but…" he reached over and patted her arm gently. "Thank you…" Even under the spring sun her arm felt cold beneath his hand. He could feel her body shaking lightly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She pulled her arm away. "I'm _fine._ It just scared me is all."

He smiled slowly. "I'm fine, Helga. I'm sorry I scared you." Sitting forward on his knees, ignoring the pain of the rocks against his skin, he wrapped his arms around her.

Helga stiffened against him, arms crossed over her chest, pushing at him gently. She couldn't handle it all at once. She couldn't stop shivering. She could barely breathe. "Let go of me, football-head." She could only whisper. The breath she'd been holding fell out of her lungs as he pulled away from her once again.

She tried once more to focus on anything but him, instead settling her thoughts on the sound of the gravel crunching under his feet as he stood over her. His hand extended in front of her. "I got it." She grumbled, slapping it away. She brought herself to her feet as a sharp pain shot through her ankle, causing her leg to give way beneath her.

"Woah…" Again she was in his arms as Arnold gently caught her. "Did you twist your ankle?"

"No shit, Sherlock." She shoved him away again, limping toward the rooftop door with a grimace.

"Here let me help you."

"I'm _fine!_ Just leave me alone!"

"Helga." His voice was firm but soft. He wasn't shying away from her temper, and he wasn't going to back down from the walls she'd built around herself. He took her arm again. "You can't make it down the stairs like that." She wouldn't look at him, but he wasn't met with any more resistance as he pulled her arm over his shoulder and placed his around her waist. He felt her stiffen against him once more, yet made no moves to let her go.

They walked all the way to the bus stop in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. She was angry, embarrassed, happy, nervous… A whole cocktail of emotions, some of which she wasn't sure there were names for. She suddenly hated herself for making plans with the boy. She knew better. She knew how it would make her feel. Thinking back on the day's events as the bus bumped into town, she found herself smiling, and hated herself for it.

Helga was never easy to understand by any means. Ever since they were kids, Arnold never knew what to expect from her. He definitely had never expected the day he'd have with her that day. He snuck a glance over at her as she focused solely on her knees. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the edge of her lips, curved upwards only in the slightest. He laughed a little, catching her attention. The infectious chuckle took over as she laughed with him.

"That's what I get," she joked, pointing down at her ankle, "for trying to help you." Relief replaced the tension on her shoulders while the bus driver shot them a look through his mirror. "Oh hush, old man. There's no one else even here for us to bother."

Arnold laughed again, covering his mouth as he tried to refrain. "Sorry I broke your ankle."

"It's probably not broken. It doesn't even hurt anymore." She told him, nudging him with her elbow.

* * *

"It's broken." An elderly doctor walked across the room and lit the x-rays on the screen, pointing out the injury to her. "Or rather it's fractured. You'll need to stay off of it for a while."

"Criminy. I live on the second floor, doc. What am I supposed to do?"

"Actually…" Arnold spoke up. "You could stay in my room. Duke won't be back until next week."

She blinked. Was he crazy or just stupid? "A-and a week won't cover a broken ankle, doi. What about after that?"

He shrugged. "He might be up for trading rooms." _It's not like he and I would make good roommates anymore, _he thought. "I mean we've slept in the same room before, right?"

She could swear in that moment she felt her throat tighten. She wasn't aware he knew about the diary or bird incident. She shoved the memories so far back in her mind she'd almost forgotten about them herself. "I—Ah..."

"The greenhouse experiment, remember? We almost drowned?"

"Oh…" She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. "Yeah I guess it slipped my mind…" She shook her head. "What about all of my stuff?"

"I'll bring it down."

"No!" Her face was on fire. There was no way he could pack all of her stuff. All of her toiletries and…_unmentionables._ "I mean. You can't…"

The thought finally hit him, causing his face to flush as he nodded. A girl's belongings were definitely a private patter. "We'll figure it out…"

She had a bad feeling about what they'd figure out, suddenly regretting not choosing a dorm with an elevator. "Criminy."

As mad as he was sure Duke was, his text was fast and eager in response to the idea of switching rooms. Helga's roommate only had one question to the matter. "Is he single?" The only request that Duke had was to leave his things as they were until he was able to come back and move them himself. Even Helga's last attempt to avoid switching rooms failed. After an email to each of their RAs, she found they completely understood the situation, and just asked they kept it "hush, hush."

The next obstacle was getting her things without Arnold watching her. His idea was too appealing to the wrong side of her brain. Before she knew it he was carrying her, bridal style, up the stairs to her dorm. She let out a sigh of relief when all was said and done, her things in a duffle and suitcase in the corner of the small dorm. She sat on the bed she'd stolen from her arch nemesis while Arnold went out to get dinner. As guilty as she felt for all that he'd done, she couldn't stop the pounding in her chest.

Perhaps in the end it was the pain pills that had her heart fluttering as he carried her. Maybe it was the soreness that caused her face to flush when he came back from the shower that evening. It had to have been the long day that caused her to be lulled to sleep at the sound of his soft breathing on the other side of the dark room.

* * *

Arnold was surprised at the feel of her in his arms. She was warm and soft. He vaguely remembered carrying her off the roof of the FTI building as kids, but it had been windy and rushed, and his mind was far too distracted to have been able to focus on her body against his. As much as his legs ached after the trips up to her dorm and back, the heat in his cheeks was a far more concerning burn.

He sat her on the bed in his room as if she were fragile, had he been able to face her, he would have seen her averting her gaze as her ears burned red. Instead, however, he grabbed his shower kit, muttering an excuse, and retreated to the bathroom. The silence was a rare virtue in the building as all he could hear was the hot water beating against his bare skin.

He'd known her for almost all of his life. He couldn't see why his body was reacting the way it was all of the sudden. He enjoyed taking care of her. He didn't care how much she complained. He liked how she felt against him, the way she fought half-heartedly against his attention. She was so much more complex than any girl…any _person_ he'd ever met. It just took him 19 years to appreciate it.

He shook his head, rinsing the shampoo from his hair and the thoughts from his head. It had been a long day. Maybe after some dinner and sleep he'd feel better, be able to think more clearly.

That night he heard her breathing across the room as she slept and had to remind himself to do the same.

* * *

A week flew by before either of them had realized. Arnold found himself locked in the library on Sunday night pushing through the last of his makeup assignments while Helga entertained herself in their shared dorm. The only day she'd left the room was the night before when Duke was back to collect his things. In an attempt to avoid an awkwardly unpleasant reunion, she'd left to the campus green to read until Arnold texted her the clear to come back with the use of her crutches.

As much as she'd tried to help around the dorm, Arnold made sure she never had to lift a finger. He picked up dinner each night—though he did let her pay half every time. He cleaned up every morning before she woke up. He walked her to the caf for lunch to make sure she could make it up all three steps that lead the way inside. The guilt sunk in, but the longer she was around him, the more that 9 year old girl in the back of her mind made herself known.

She felt like a child again, letting him take care of her while she was injured. Somehow the taste of his kindness was sweeter, knowing it wasn't the result of a two-bit plot to get closer to him, but actually unasked for, and fought against, even. And Arnold fought back. He fought to help her. And it caused a smile to creep onto her face when he wasn't around. The feelings overwhelmed her as she pulled a pillow over her face as if to smother her happiness before it killed her.

A hiss escaped her lips as she felt her foot hit the edge of the bed in the midst of her fit. She threw the pillow to the floor with a scowl as she sat up. She glared down at her leg when something caught her eye. A small notebook in the floor under the edge of the bed. The same one Duke had shoved in his pocket the week before.

She flipped open the pages, skipping past the boring entries about his day or the random ideas he had for other stories, until she saw a page with a distinct doodle of a ribbon at the top. Under the drawing was a title. _The Girl in the Pink Bow._

It wasn't a story, only ramblings of what he'd learned about her and ideas to put on paper. Helga herself had similar drafts in her journal for short stories she'd later written out. The notes he'd added, however, told a lot about the character he'd created of her in the fiction he'd been working on.

_Feminine, loves pink, loves girly things._

_Sits like a boy_

_Has a rough sense of humor_

_Drunk mom_

_Smart sister, very naïve._

_Bossy_

Nothing too terrible yet. There were a few other mentions of how she looked; blonde hair, tall, wore a pink bow. As the pages progressed the details became more wordy, into full paragraphs that came to his mind.

_ She bossed everyone around, including her friends and family. Her sister, though softhearted to a fault, was always the one the family loved, and she hated her for it. She walked all over her sister, caused her emotional turmoil at every visit. Even caused her sister to move across the country to get away from them, and never batted an eye._

_ She made her mother quit her job. Made her father go back to work. She comes by it honest, however. As her old classmate reported, she is just like her raging father. _

"Helga?" Arnold shut the door gently behind him. She was staring so intently on the notebook laying open in her lap, breathing caught in her throat. Her face was pale and her foot was hanging over the bed, swollen from the lack of support. "You need to prop your leg up…"

Helga gasped a bit, jerking her head up to look at him as the sound of his bag hitting the floor caught her attention. She didn't know when she'd started crying, but it was too late to hide the stinging red eyes and wet cheeks that were cold from the air. She stammered and threw the book into the floor. She couldn't find the words to think up an excuse for her appearance.

Arnold couldn't decide what to do. He didn't know what had upset her, so he didn't know what to say. He didn't know how upset she was, so he didn't know what to do. "What happened…" He looked down at the book, recognizing it immediately. He glanced over the open page. "Helga…"

His hand reached out to her and she glared, slapping it away from her. "I come by it honest? I get it from my dad?" She stood, ignoring the pain in her foot. "What do I get from him, football head?" She didn't bother trying to stop the tears, it was too late.

"Helga I didn't say that."

She pushed her hands against his chest, shoving him onto the bed. "What did you say, huh? Did you tell him I was bossy? Did you tell him I was crazy?"

Arnold shook his head, looking down at her foot again. "Helga your foot, please sit down." He reached up for her hands, flailing in front of her.

"Leave me alone!" She slapped his hands away again. The pain in her leg caused her face to flush, but she stepped closer before the injury finally caused her ankle to give way. She crumbled to the floor hissed in pain.

Arnold climbed out of the bed. "Let me help you up. Please."

"Don't touch me." Her voice was softer than he'd ever heard it. She felt his arm around her shoulders and another under her knees. "Let me go. Put me down."

Her walls were up, taller and stronger than ever before. He knew that, but he'd already gotten too close. He set her down on the bed gently and helped her prop her foot under a pillow. "I didn't say those things."

"But that's how you see me." She focused on the pain in her ankle, throbbing and swollen in front of her. "That's how everyone sees me. Bossy and selfish and boyish."

"It's not." He'd never be able to tear those walls down.

"Then what do you see?" She looked up at him, glaring and broken.

If he couldn't tear them down, he thought, maybe he could make his way inside them with her. "I see you." He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. He watched as she went to slap him away once more and took her wrist gently in his other hand. "I see a girl who does incredible things. A girl who never once cared about what others thought. A girl who went against her father to save a neighborhood, and broke her ankle to keep me from falling off a building."

She dropped her gaze, mumbling. "I didn't intend to break my ankle."

"But you did. And you would have done it again. Know how I know?"

"Because you think the best of everyone?" The tears had stopped, her arm went limp in his hand and her breathing evened out. The hurt was suddenly replaced with overwhelming embarrassment in its stead.

"Because you're amazing." She looked up at him again, and for the second time that week he found himself falling.

He brought his lips to hers in one sudden movement, as if controlled by a third entity between them. The initial crash between them was reminiscent of their first kiss a decade before. The hand on her shoulder cupped the back of her head, and the grip on her wrist dropped to her side.

Her lip might have been bleeding from the suddenness of it all, but it took only a moment to register what was happening to her. Arnold kissed her. _He_ kissed _her_. And he was still kissing her. His hands were on her hip and in her hair and his mouth was on hers, waiting for a response.

He began to pull away, mumbling as they parted. She felt his breath on her lips as he muttered an apology. She felt her eyes narrow before pulling her hand up to his neck. "Shut up." She growled, pulling him back again.

It only took ten years and four tries before they finally got it right.

* * *

**A/N: **So I'm sorry that I was late. So I hope I made up for it? I was sick last week so I didn't really leave my bed very much. This chapter had a lot going on. Oh and as for the 4 tries.. Romeo and Juliet, FTI (the movie), The first kiss, then the second. Got it? I think that's all of them. Unless I missed one. I almost didn't include the school play one but...well it was their first kiss.

Big announcement! I'm going to Momocon in Atlanta, Ga in May. If anyone is going stop by the Disney Singalong Contest. I'm one of the finalists!

So small announcement next week is the epilogue.

Thanks for reading!


	7. Epilogue

There were two things Helga loved on a Saturday morning; waking up next to her boyfriend, and sleeping in. It was two things that both she and Arnold could agree on every week. During weekdays the two could share a bed, but they had classes at different times. On Mondays and Wednesdays the alarm would sound, Arnold would climb out of bed, kiss Helga on the cheek, and get ready for class while she fell back asleep. On Tuesdays and Thursdays it would be Helga to get up early, ruffling his hair before he covered his head with a pillow when she turned off the alarm.

On Saturdays, however, the two did not make plans, they didn't wake up early, and neither woke up alone. Arnold normally woke up before Helga, but never left the bed. She'd feel his fingers trailing up and down her side while she worked up the energy to open her eyes. He'd be playing a game on his phone or checking his email while he waited for her. She would cuddle against him and he'd smile at her. "Good morning, Helga." And she would smile right back.

Near the end of April however, Helga woke up unusually cold on a Saturday. The bed was empty. After a solid month of spending every weekend together, opening her eyes to an empty room took her by surprise. She wasn't aware of any plans he'd made to go out. It wasn't even particularly late in the morning for him to have been out.

She frowned, grumbling as she rolled over to reach her phone on the night stand. A message reminder flashed on her screen as she picked it up. _Stupid Arnold. _She opened the message and glared. _Hey I had to go check on something. I'll be back soon. Sorry._

"Hmph. 'Sorry' he says." She kicked the blankets off of her legs with her good foot, not minding that they fall into the floor. "Stupid Football-head."

"You know I really wish you'd stop calling me that." She turned to him as Arnold shut the door behind him. "I mean we're dating now, do you still have to insult me?"

Helga shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I can't help the shape of your head." She told him simply. "Besides where did you go?"

"I had to go pick up one of these books." He held it out to her. It was a paperbound book with their school logo in the top corner. "It's the student art publication."

The one Duke wrote about Helga for. Her eyes narrowed as she threw the book to the ground. "Why would you want that garbage?"

"He didn't make it in." Arnold reached down and picked the book up off the floor. "I checked it twice and he's not in it."

Helga couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face. "Good. He's a terrible writer anyways." She crossed her arms with a smug grin. "I should have entered to show him what real writing looks like."

Arnold chuckled and kissed her head. "Next year."

"Is that what you left for? To make sure he didn't put a dumb story in a dumb book?"

"Not just that." He sat down next to her. "They just opened up a new study abroad trip for July."

Helga blinked at him, heart sinking in her chest. "And you're going for it?"

"It's to San Lorenzo." He pulled the brochure from his pocket and handed it to her. "We'd go and explore the ruins there and talk to the natives. I could find my parents or at least find out what happened to them."

Helga nodded. She understood. She had to understand. It was the chance of a lifetime for him. "How long?"

"It goes from the beginning of July until school starts in mid-August."

A month and a half. She could make it that long. She had to. "Well. Good luck." She tried to sound honest. She hoped she did.

"Actually." He handed the application to her. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to go alone? Applications just opened up. We both have the grades for it."

She tried not to smile too brightly. "I guess I can go. I get my cast off in a couple more weeks." She smirked instead. "After all, who's going to keep your ass from killing yourself out there in the jungle?"

Arnold laughed and shook his head. "Just don't get yourself hurt saving me this time, alright?" He reached up, catching her fist as she threw a punch towards his shoulder. "I mean it, Helga. No getting hurt."

"Or what?"

His smile grew as he gripped her hand. "Or I might have to stick around until you're better." He kissed her and took her other hand as she reached up to him. "And we don't want that do we?"

"I'll get hurt however I want to." She mumbled. She felt his lips against her neck as her head rolled back. She pushed herself back on the bed, trying to avoid hitting her injured leg against the floor. "I'm already hurt right now though, Arnold-o."

Arnold laughed a little. "Guess I forgot." Her face was flushed, lips in a slight pout. He kissed her lightly again before scooping her up onto the bed. "Better?"

She felt his legs on either side of her hips as he smiled down at her, her arms in his hands against her pillow. "I guess." Her cheeks were burning. They'd been dating for a month, but when he gave her that look she couldn't help the shy blush that burned its way onto her face. "You better take advantage of this while you can," she said softly, "because once I'm better I won't be so easy to pin down."

"I'm looking forward to that." He chuckled, kissing her again. "Until then let's just make the best of it."

She opened her mouth to remark on his cheesy statement. Instead, however, she was interrupted by his lips on hers again and the thought was lost in the back of her mind. She felt her arms being let loose before she wrapped them around him. His hand moved to her side, pushing the long shirt she'd slept in up to her stomach. His lips moved down her neck once again, only breaking contact in order to discard the shirt once and for all.

"Hey Helga?"

"What." She suddenly hated questions.

"I thought these belonged to your roommate." A devilish grin was playing on his lips as he toyed with the small pink bow on her panties.

Her eyes narrowed. "We can stop here, you know." She smiled as his lips met hers again. "I'm so glad I tried to avoid you."

He laughed. "What?"

"I picked this school to be as far as I could be from you. So I could learn to get over you." She rolled her eyes. "We see how well that worked out."

"Well I didn't know you went here. Or else I would have tried to avoid you too."

"Gee thanks." She laughed. "So we both tried for the same class."

"Avoidance 101." He smiled down at her. "I think we failed."

She shrugged a little, meeting his smile. "I think I'm okay with that."

* * *

**A/N:** I'd like to thank everyone who followed/favorited/reviewed/read this little work here. Epilogues are always short! Sorry to make you wait!

So originally the story was going to END after the San Lorenzo trip and they were going to get together during that trip (kind of like the never made Jungle Movie but in college). The scene on the roof was going to be something slightly resembling the scene with Arnold's dad saving his friend and getting hurt. However sometimes stories just play out differently and I'm okay with that if you are.

I also thought I might put Helga's story/poem into the student works but decided against it. Because Helga wouldn't do that when she's typically anonymous in her works. Then I thought maybe Arnold would put her story/poem in there. But he's not one to snoop through her diary (except that one time but he was a kid and didn't know it was hers.) So that's why it ended the way it did.

I hope you all enjoyed it. I had fun writing it. After this I'll probably go back to writing anime fanfictions. Namely Trigun and my all time OTP Vash/Meryl. Please don't read my old stuff. It's so bad. So...so bad...so awful. I was like 14 omg... 10 years ago I was a bad writer. Okay so that's all for now

Thanks again!


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